I initially had neither exact dates nor locations (other than simply "Bohemia") for Frantisek "Frank" Vanek and Mary Kroulik. I only had estimated dates from later US census records. Someone on Ancestry.com seems to have found the exact dates and locations listed above... but I have been unable to track down who in order to find the original sources. However, with what I know about the birth location of their son Joseph, this all makes very good sense. And the dates match the census estimates.

Before immigrating Frantisek and Mary had three sons:

1. Joseph J. Vanek (my gg-grandfather)b: 02 Dec 1869 in Orlov (I believe this is now a merged town called Vračovice-Orlov) in the Pardubice Region. His death record says he was born in "Orlove, Bohemia."d: 28 Nov 1932 in Lincoln, Lancaster County, Nebraska, USA, though he spent most of his life in Nuckolls and Saline Counties in Nebraska.

2. Frank (Frantisek?) J. Vanekb: 31 May 1871 in (Bohemia--I do not have a record which lists any specific place)d: 17 Dec 1936 in Lancaster County, Nebraska, USA.

3. James Vanekb: 31 May 1874 in (Bohemia)d: ?? in Nebraska?He is listed on the 1885 Nebraska state census, then disappears.

Most census records agree that the family immigrated to the United States in 1883 (one record says '84). I have been unable to find any ship manifests or immigration records that clearly match this family. The only record that partially matches is as follows: 10 Oct 1883 arrival in Baltimore aboard "America." Franz, Josef, & Wenzel (is this James?) Vanek, are all the right ages; but there no young Frank listed and Franz's wife's name is Anna instead of Mary (she is the right age though).

I do have at least one other instance in my Bohemian ancestry where someone named Vaclav/Wenzel took the name "James" in America, so that might apply to this arrival record as well.

Any help confirming the information above and/or identifying Frantisek Vanek and Mary Kroulik's parents and siblings would be very much appreciated!